#30daysofblogging Day 3: Volunteer
Monday, March 02, 2020
Carrying on from yesterday’s post I wanted to tell you about my experience on Saturday.
A good few months ago I was in my local town and saw a lady doing a bucket collection outside one of the stores. Basically standing with a bucket that people can drop money into that then goes directly to the charity in question for those that aren’t familiar.
Being a strong 32 year old woman I made my mum go and speak to this lady about how you could volunteer to do collections like these and get involved- turned out she was the lead fundraiser in the area so had all the info. The charity was Macmillan.
I remember as a very young child going with my mum and dad to do collecting for CF before really it was a well known charity. I always quite enjoyed it from memory but I know mum especially used to get downhearted by lack of donations and sadly a lot of filthy looks as though she was begging on the street.
So a long story short I volunteered and mum came with me for the first attempt, to do a local collection when the chance arose. How it works is that the charity told its supporters where and when they had permission for a collection, in this case Tesco. Volunteers then respond back if they can make it. There’s no obligation to do a certain amount. Then we decided on our time slot 2-4pm and I mentioned I would need a chair as I couldn’t stand for that long.
We turned up, everything was ready. We donned our sashes and grabbed our baskets. I’d been feeling a bit trepidatious to be honest, wondering what people’s reaction would be, if we would have any nasty remarks or challenges, would people be generous, would I enjoy the experience? I needn’t have worried.
It’s easy to think ‘oh come on it’s only the change you just got shopping you can spare it’ but for a start, many people can’t. For another many don’t carry cash anymore just cards. There’s also the fact that ‘giving fatigue’ is a real thing. In daily life you are asked to support this cause and that one, collection boxes at till points, pleas for direct debits, emails asking for support with personal stories attached, the list goes on and on. You can’t support everything. End of story.
I support quite a lot of charities but how and when I can. Macmillian is a cancer support charity and they do an amazing job supporting patients during and after cancer. I’ve had to phone with medical queries and someone is at the end of the phone 24/7. They can advise you and call ahead to the hospital etc if necessary. You meet them at clinics etc and I cannot adequately describe the amount of help they offer. There website I found to be a godsend. They have so much information on all cancers and while giving detailed information I found it to be put in a way that wasn’t terrifying as so many other sites were. They had a whole range of leaflets at the hospital with advice on benefits, pain, exercise, body image, nutrition, everything you can think of. I am really grateful for their support.
Anyway, back to collecting. It was a lovely experience. First of all because people were indeed very generous. More than that though, it was nice to have that contact with people. 99% was just a smile and acknowledgment, other times a few words of conversation. I realised that to smile at people and make eye contact, just for a second, really made a difference, more people donated and majority of those who didn’t seemed to enjoy the contact as much as I did. How often do we take a second to look at someone and smile, then receive a smile in response? Hardly ever when you’re busy marching to the next very important thing, or zoning out on our phones or heads buried in newspapers or just tired and shutting out the world. Honestly try it. Sometimes they won’t smile back but don’t be defeated! When they do it’s a lovely glow of satisfaction.
The point of this blog is to say that I loved collecting and was proud of trying something new and pushing through the anxiety to do it anyway. I will be doing it again. However my main point is that in this blog alone there are a few ways of giving and most don’t involve spending money. Obviously charities run on money and any you can spare will help immensely. Something as valuable though, is your time. Volunteering your time and skills can make a huge difference to a charity. Volunteer to do a collection, or go litter picking. Offer to walk dogs at a local shelter, offer to pick up shopping for an elderly or disabled neighbour. Could you cook at a soup kitchen or hand out leaflets on a stall? Plant some flowers in a community garden to make it a nicer place to live?
Honestly the possibilities are endless and only you know which charities you want to support and what you have to offer that they might need.
If you aren’t able to do any of that (I’ll be providing more ideas in the next few weeks) then simply smile at someone. You might make there day and if it doesn’t? What have you lost?
Xxx
3 comments
Loved it, especially everything you wrote after "Anyway".
ReplyDelete(My job is pretty though. But receiving some friendly vibes from strangers on the way home just through a smile etc. is a surprisingly strong fuel)
Thank you! It’s amazing how much of a difference it makes isn’t it?! X
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